


July 21st

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I swear this has a happy ending, M/M, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Permanent Amnesia, my poor babys, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 02:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4245852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were best friends since third grade. When they drifted apart later in life, Levi never expected Eren to tell him that he couldn't remember his old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	July 21st

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello!  
> So I had this idea in my head forever and it's probably crappy but oh well. I had to write it down.  
> Please leave comments if you enjoyed it, you're comments make my day!  
> Enjoy!

Sometimes there’s not words to describe a person. They’re too beautiful, too kind, too much of an idiot to put into words.  
That’s how he would respond whenever people would ask him about the other.  
They’d say, “What is it about Eren that you love, Levi?”  
How is he able to describe something like that? That he loves how Eren would wake up with misty eyes and a sloppy smile on his face? How he’d peck Levi’s cheek before burrowing his face back under the covers? How he would make a cup of tea for Levi before he even considered feeding himself? How when Levi would come home from work Eren would be there, looking as if flour had exploded on his fiancé?  
Levi would never tell him that, he’s not supposed to be the sentimental one, that position was to be filled by Eren. The person to see Levi’s soft side would be for Eren only. For Eren to watch Levi as he rushed back into their home a second after he left, simply because Levi forgot his goodbye kiss. To watch as Levi wrapped Eren in a blanket on their couch before he watched horror movies with Eren. To watch as Levi burnt their pasta he tried to make for dinner before giving up and ordering Chinese, to only go back in the kitchen and witness Eren eating the horrible tasting pasta anyways. When asked why he ate it, Eren would simply grin, noodles spilling out of the corners of his lips, before replying, “Everything you make it perfect.”  
Levi would give him a fond eye roll before wrapping his arms around his waist and delivering a soft kiss to the side of Eren’s neck.  
Levi would never be able to describe why he loved Eren, that’s one this he was sure of. When people would give up trying to get an answer out of him, they’d move onto the next question.  
“How’d you and Eren meet?”  
That’s where the real confusing answer came in. If they were to ask Levi, he would answer with “In third grade”. If you asked Eren he would say, “When I was working as a bartender.”  
People were always baffled by their answers.  
“What’s the real answer?” They’d demand to know.  
“Eren being a bartender.” Levi would then agree with Eren, “That’s where I met this Eren.”  
“This Eren?”  
Eren would then smile before glancing down at Levi with a fond expression, “He’s met the old me and the present me.”  
People would look at them like they were crazy, one person had even asked, “Old you? Do you mean like reincarnation?”  
Eren laughed, “No, I mean me before I got amnesia.”  
Their story wasn’t as simple as it seemed, in reality it was far more complex.  
Levi remembered old Eren and new Eren. Did he love old Eren? Yes. New Eren? Even more so. It was like getting the chance to relearn the love of his life all over again.  
Levi had met old Eren in third grade. He could still remember his mother forcing him to stop reading and to go with her in order to greet the new neighbors. Levi had walked down the steps of his old home and stood on the green welcome mat as he forced his small feet to slip into his black little converse.  
Levi’s mother held onto Levi in one hand and the other held onto a pumpkin pie, appropriate considering Halloween was nearing alarmingly fast.  
When his mother knocked on the door, a gentle looking lady had opened the door, a soft smile on her face as she wiped her hands on a flower patterned hand towel.  
“Yes?” She said in a sweet voice, her smile growing as she stared at the two in front of her.  
Levi’s mother smiled back, “Hello, I’m Kuchel Ackerman and this is my son, Levi. We’re your neighbors.”  
The lady’s face seemed to brighten up even more as Levi’s mother handed her the pie. She smiled at Levi and his mother before replying, “I’m Carla, it’s a pleasure to meet you! This pie looks wonderful, please come in! We can cut into this bad boy.”  
Levi’s mother smiled and followed Carla back into her home, forcing Levi to follow her as she hung onto his hand.  
“Eren! We have guests, come down for a moment!” Carla yelled towards the stairway that was located to the left of the entrance door.  
Levi lifted his head curiously as he heard what had to be a baby elephant with all the ruckus going on the floor above. He heard a loud thud, likely from the person tripping. A moment later a blur of a boy came bounding down the steps until he stopped in front of Levi.  
He grinned at Levi, “Hi! I’m Eren.”  
Levi cringed slightly, the boy had red and blue paint covering his hands with multiple other colors staining his white shirt and jeans. Carla rolled her eyes at her son, “You didn’t think of washing up before you came down, Goofball?”  
Eren stuck out his tongue before letting out a cute snort. Levi felt the corner of his lip twitch upwards.  
Every day after that, Eren had forced Levi to walk with him to school. One thing Levi quickly learned about Eren was that he was very passionate about things, so much that it was often mistaken for aggression.  
Levi knew better than that. Eren wanted the world to rule fairly, which often led with him diving head first into things that were out of his league.  
For example, Levi and Eren were both twelve and walking home from school when Eren had heard the sound of a girl yelling. Before Levi could even think of stopping him, Eren was rushing down the street and heading into an abandoned alley next to the Pizza parlor.  
“Eren! Wait!” Levi called out after him, forcing his small legs to rush forward. He rounded the corner just in time to see Eren shove the guy off of the small blonde girl.  
“Leave her alone!” Eren shouted at the guy, his face red as he clenched his fist.  
Levi quickly ran up to the three and heard the guy snap at Eren, “Why don’t you leave, Kid. This has nothing to concern you with.”  
The girl whimpered behind Eren, trying to fix her torn top and bloody lip.  
Eren glared at the guy and hissed, “Why don’t you just go?”  
Levi felt his stomach drop as the guy punched Eren in the nose, making a loud crunching noise echo down the alley. Eren sprung forward, kicking and punching at the guy, but only managed to hurt himself more. Levi was a weak small twelve year old, so no matter how much he tried he couldn’t stop the fight. When the guy figured they weren’t worth his time, he finally left. Eren had been left with a broken nose, busted lip, bloody knuckles, and a large black eye already forming.  
Levi never wanted to feel that helpless again. That was all the motivation it took for him to train his body to the maximum. He packed on muscle, sadly never gaining any height but that was something he’d have to deal with.  
By time they were sixteen, Levi was hopelessly in love with his best friend. He never did find out that Eren was in love with him as well.  
Levi was considered a ‘punk nerd’ by that point in their life. He had excelled in all critiques. While other people got teased for having grades like Levi’s, they never bothered with Levi. All they had to do was take one look at his arms and quickly figured out they could be beaten into a pulp. Levi was grateful that since almost everyone knew Eren and Levi were best friends, they also left Eren alone as well. Due to people being intimidated by Levi, no one challenged Eren’s ‘social justice’ attitude he constantly had. Despite how many fights Eren would get in, Levi was proud of Eren for wanting people to treat others as equals.  
Levi was crazy about Eren. Everything he did just made him fall for him more and more. The same went for Eren and his feelings towards Levi. Levi’s feelings for Eren was what made it hard for him to tell Eren the truth, “Eren.”  
“Hmm?” Eren said quietly as he looked up from the video game he was playing on the ground in Levi’s room.  
“I’m moving.”  
The silence was deafening. All Eren could do was stare at Levi. He blinked once, twice, three times before his brain finally registered what Levi said.  
He blew up.  
“WHAT!?” Eren shouted, springing up from his spot as he stared at Levi horrified.  
Levi swallowed the lump in his throat and repeated himself, “I’m moving.”  
He then went onto explaining how he was offered a spot in a prestigious boarding school across the country. Levi’s entire family would be moving there in so they could still see their son on the weekends. Levi felt selfish for accepting the offer, he knew he would be leaving Eren behind. However, he knew he had to do what was right for him. The school offered opportunities that their present school didn’t.  
Eren sobbed when Levi had left, clinging to his best friend like his life depended on it. Levi could honestly say that leaving Eren was the thing he regretted most in life. Maybe if he hadn’t left, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they had.  
Levi was at the boarding school for six months when he officially lost touch with Eren. He’ll admit, that was entirely his fault. He became so consumed with school work and had become friends with a few others, eventually he gradually forgot about Eren. Eren would stay by the phone every day after school, excitedly waiting for the calls from Levi. One day, it never came. Same for the next and the next and the next. Levi stopped calling and skyping, forgetting his old friend for the most part. It crushed Eren, he didn’t know what he had done.  
Levi had confined into his new friend, Hange, about how he felt bad for ignoring Eren.  
They had given him a small smile and said, “Levi, Eren’s half way across the country. He couldn’t have gone with you. Long distance usually never works. You had to leave him behind, it’s only fair to let him go. He needs to grow now that you’re not there.”  
That was the final push he needed in order to let Eren free.  
Oh how he regretted that decision.  
Eren had been torn apart by being abandoned by Levi, but he refused to let that tear him away. It was about a year after Levi had left, six months have gone without hearing from him completely. Eren made two new friends, Armin and Mikasa, who ended up filling the whole Levi left in his chest.  
It was June 21st, 2011 when the accident happened.  
Eren and his mother were on their way to pick up groceries when the semi slammed into the side of their small car.  
The impact was instant. The paramedics later told Eren that his mother was ejected from the vehicle, dying instantly when she hit the ground. Eren remembers his mother throwing her arm over Eren, trying to keep him safe. His head had bashed into the window, glass flying everywhere. Cuts and bruises covered his body, a broken rib, three broken fingers, and a severe case of amnesia.  
It was May 3rd, 2015 when Eren was placed back into Levi’s life.  
They were both twenty-one at the time. Levi had been working as an accountant while Eren worked as a bartender at a nice small bar in the town they lived. When Eren turned nineteen he had traveled across country with his best friends, Armin and Mikasa, before they had settle in a small town they enjoyed. A year after living in the town, Eren finally got a job as a bartender. While Levi had lived in the town since he was sixteen, he had never heard of the bar Hange suggested one night.  
“Come oooon, Levi!” They begged, “Even Erwin took tonight off so we could all go to the bar! I promise it’s clean! It’s cute and small, you’ll really like it! If you don’t, you can go home. Promise.”  
Levi glared at Hange, “Why should I?”  
Hange wiggled their eyebrows, “Maybe get a little fella to take home tonight?”  
Levi rolled his eyes and sighed, “I’ll go, Shitty glasses, calm down.”  
Of course, that didn’t mean he’d be happy about it. The entire car ride there, he bitched to Erwin and Hange about how he was going to shave their heads bald when they pass out drunk.  
He narrowed his eyes at the neared the bar, ‘Titans Drinks’. What a shitty name.  
He rolled his eyes and scrunched his face as he noticed a few specks of dirt here and there.  
“C’mon, let’s go get a drink!” Hange yelled over the rock music that was playing, forcing their bodies past the dancing people. Levi felt his skin crawl as he shoved past the sweaty and smelly dudes trying to grind on anything that moved.  
Hange found them three spots at the bar counter before yelling over to the bartender that had his back turned to them, “Three whisky’s please!”  
“Sure, one sec!” The guy replied. Levi felt his chest tighten automatically. The voice sounded familiar but different in a way.  
The figure turned around and he felt as if the world froze. He was different, yet he was the same. He was still the same lanky boy, but with tanner smooth skin, longer darker hair, and the same bright emerald green eyes.  
“Eren?” Levi breathed out shocked. The bartender looked at Levi with a friendly smile, giving him a slightly confused look.  
“Eren? As in old friend Eren?” Hange asked surprised, remembering their friend consulting them about how he felt bad for leaving the boy behind.  
Eren looked at them bewildered, a blush settling on his cheeks as he filled the three glasses with whisky, “Um, do I know you two?”  
It was Levi’s turn to look baffled, “You don’t remember me? It’s me, Levi.”  
Hange and Erwin watched the exchanged with curious glances, wondering if maybe their friend had gotten the wrong boy.  
Eren’s face flushed, the tips of his ears turning red as he looked at Levi embarrassed, “Shit, I’m sorry. I-crap, this is awkward. Okay, I probably did meet you, but I don’t remember you.”  
Levi looked at the boy who he had spent his entire childhood crushing over.  
“What?”  
Eren fidgeted in his spot and said with a small chuckle, “I probably knew you before the accident.”  
Levi paused momentarily, “Accident? What accident?”  
Eren rubbed the back of his neck and gave a sheepish smile, “My mother and I had gotten in a car accident four years ago.”  
Levi felt like Eren was speaking foreign words. Accident? Eren had been in an accident? What happened?  
“What happened?” Levi finally asked, his curiosity burning. He felt a heavy feeling in his gut, knowing he wasn’t going to like what came out of Eren’s mouth.  
Turns out, he was right.  
“Collision with a semi. Mom died and I got amnesia.” Eren said with a shrug.  
Levi was shocked, how come he never heard of the accident? Was that why his mother was upset that she had never heard from Carla?  
“Why didn’t I know about the accident?” Levi demanded with a frown, leaning forward slightly.  
Eren laughed then pointed at his head, “Amnesia, remember? I still don’t know who you are. The only ones who knew about it were the one’s my best friends told.”  
Levi knew he had no right to feel this way, but it still felt like a punch in the stomach at hearing Eren refer to someone else as his best friend.  
He may not have been there for Eren in the past, but damn if he wasn’t going to be there in the future.  
Months passed and Eren slowly reentered his life. He met Eren’s best friends and Eren met his. Nine months after becoming friends again, Eren had asked Levi on a date one day at the park. They had been walking around town, enjoying each other’s company when Eren spotted a small public garden at the park. Eren told him to wait at the spot next to the bench before he took off running towards the garden. He was waiting for him for about five minutes before Eren returned, a flower crown on his head. Levi’s eyes widened slightly as Eren placed a matching one on top of Levi’s head. Eren smiled at Levi and asked, “Levi, would you go on a date with me?”  
And just like before, he fell madly in love with Eren once again. Levi got to learn a whole new Eren and came to love this one even more.  
He learned that this Eren was a lot more peaceful, still crazily passionate, but settled things in a calm matter. He no longer needed Levi to fend the bullies off of him, mainly because Eren already had charmed the bullies by time Levi reached him.  
That was a big thing for the new Eren, he was charming in ways he couldn’t describe.  
One day when Levi had finally asked the question that had been itching at him since day one, “Eren, how are you so accepting with having amnesia?”  
Eren had turned to Levi and gave him a soft smile, one that reminded him of Carla.  
“Why spend time getting angry at myself for not remembering when I could be happy with making new memories?”  
Two years later of dating, Levi purposed to Eren. It was perfect. Despite how wonderful their relationship turned out to be, they had their fights like every other couple.  
Levi would probably always remember their only major fight. It had gotten so bad, Eren yelled at Levi, “Take what’s yours and leave!”  
Without thinking, Levi picked up Eren and walked out the door, carrying him all the way to the bench where Eren had first asked Levi out. Levi laid Eren down on the bench before sitting at the edge of it, turning to face Eren. He put his hands on the side of Eren’s head and leaned down to kiss him, “You’ll always be mine.”  
Eren stared up at him with his big memorizing eyes. His cheeks were flushed as he chewed on the inside of his lip, tears starting to dry in his eyes.  
“Promise that you’ll always be mine in return?” Eren whispered.  
“Promise.” Levi said softly before leaning down and sealing the promise with a kiss.  
No they didn’t have the perfect relationship, but who did?  
Their relationship was theirs. It was a beautiful one with only incredible things to come.  
They fought, they screamed, they made love, and on their special day they both said “I do”.


End file.
